Toward a Global and Multidisciplinary Understanding of Place, Religion/Spirituality, and Well-Being

A global and multidisciplinary approach to place, religion/spirituality, and well-being could contribute to improving our understanding of how place is related to religion/spirituality, well-being, and the intersection between these two fundamental aspects of human life. Re-establishing the centrality of place to human life, this chapter highlights place as a common thread that connects religion/spirituality and well-being. We draw on multiple spheres of human life—personal, social, and cultural—to discuss some of the dynamic and complex ways in which place, religion/spirituality, and well-being are interconnected. Following this illustration, we outline the structure of this global and multidisciplinary volume in three parts, and briefly summarize the collection of chapters within it. As a first step toward building a comprehensive body of knowledge on place, religion/spirituality, and well-being across various disciplines, the contributions in this volume collectively underscore how place inherently intertwines with personal spiritual encounters, societal adaptability, and cultural expressions of spirituality. We hope that this book provides a useful foundation for subsequent theory, research, and practice that recognizes the centrality of place to religion/spirituality, well-being, and the relationship between them.